NAPOLEON AND METTERNICH.
The emperor quickly met the Austrian minister, but, as if
restraining himself, he stood in the middle of the room. Metternich
approached, making a still, solemn bow, and quickly raised his head
again, and turning his fine face, from which the smile did not
vanish for a moment, toward the emperor, he waited in respectful
silence for the latter to address him. Napoleon cast a menacing
glance of hatred upon him; but Metternich did not seem to perceive
his threat. He fixed his large blue eyes with perfect calmness on
the face of the emperor, and awaited the commencement of the
conversation.
The emperor felt that it was his province to break this silence.
"Well, Metternich," ho said, "yon are here, then! You are welcome!
But answer me, without circumlocution, What do you want?"
"Sire, Austria wishes me to mediate a peace between the Prussian and
Russian allies and your majesty."
"Ah, you want peace!" exclaimed Napoleon, sarcastically. "But why so
late? We have lost nearly a month, and your mediation, from its long
inactivity, has become almost hostile. It appears that it no longer
suits your cabinet to guarantee the integrity of the French empire?
Be it so; but why had you not the candor to make me acquainted with
that determination at an earlier period? It might have modified my
plans--perhaps prevented me from continuing the war."
"But your majesty ought graciously to remember that, for the
present, there is no question of Austria and her wishes," said
Metternich, calmly; "that Austria is merely trying to mediate peace
between your majesty and the sovereigns of Russia and Prussia."
"Ah, that is what you call mediating," exclaimed Napoleon,
sneeringly. "When you allowed me to exhaust myself by new efforts,
you doubtless little calculated on such rapid events as have ensued.
I have gained, nevertheless, two battles; my enemies, severely
weakened, were beginning to waken from their illusions, when
suddenly you glided among us, and, speaking to me of an armistice
and mediation, you spoke to them of alliance and war. But for your
pernicious intervention, peace would have been at this moment
concluded between the allies and myself. You cannot deny that, since
she has assumed the office of mediator, Austria has not only ceased
to be my ally, but is becoming my enemy. You were about to declare
yourself so when the battle of Lutzen intervened, and, by showing
you the necessity of augmenting your forces, made you desirous of
gaining time. You have improved your opportunity, and now you have
your two hundred thousand men ready, screened by the Bohemian hills;
Schwartzenberg commands them; at this very moment he is
concentrating them in my rear; and it is because you conceive
yourself in a condition to dictate the law, that you pay this
visit."
"Sire, dictate!" echoed Metternich, in a tone of dismay, but with a
strange smile.
"Yes, dictate!" repeated Napoleon, in a louder voice. "But why do
you wish to dictate to me alone? Am I, then, no longer the same man
whom you defended yesterday? If you are an honest mediator, why do
you not at least treat both sides alike? Say nothing in reply, for I
see through you, Metternich: your cabinet wishes to profit by my
embarrassments, and augment them as much as possible, in order to
recover a portion of your losses. The only difficulty you have is,
whether you can gain your object without fighting, or throw
yourselves boldly among the combatants; you do not know which to do,
and possibly you come to seek light on the subject. Well, then, let
us see! Let us treat! What do you wish?"
"Sire," said Metternich, with his smiling calmness, which had not
yielded for an instant to the storm of Napoleon's reproaches,
"Austria has no motives of self-interest. The sole advantage which
the Emperor Francis wishes to derive from the present state of
affairs is the influence which a spirit of moderation, and a respect
for the rights of independent states, cannot fail to acquire from
those who are animated with similar sentiments. Austria wishes not
to conquer, but to preserve."
"Speak more clearly," interrupted the emperor, impatiently; "but do
not forget that I am a soldier."
"Your majesty has taught Europe by upward of fifty battles never to
forget that," said Metternich, with a pleasant nod. "Austria wishes
to wound your majesty neither as a soldier nor as an emperor. She
simply desires to establish a state of things which, by a wise
distribution of power, may place the guaranty of peace under the
protection of an association of independent states."
"Words, words!" cried Napoleon, impatiently. "Words having no other
object than evasion, veiling your own designs! But I mean to go
directly to the object. I only wish Austria to remain neutral, and I
am ready to make sacrifices to her for it. My army is amply
sufficient to bring back the Russians and Prussians to reason. All
that I ask of you is to withdraw from the strife."
"Ah, sire," said Metternich, eagerly, "why should your majesty enter
singly into the strife? Why should you not double your forces? You
may do so, sire! It depends only on you to add our forces to your
own. Yes, matters have come to that point that we can no longer
remain neutral; we must be either for or against you."
The emperor bent on him one of those piercing glances which the
eagle bends upon the clouds to which he is soaring, seeking for the
sun behind them. "And which would be more desirable to you," he
asked, "to be for or against me?"
"Ah, sire, the Emperor Francis wishes for nothing more ardently than
that the state of affairs should enable him to be for France, whose
emperor is his son-in-law."
"But my father-in-law imposes conditions! Pray, tell me what they
are!" exclaimed Napoleon, striding up and down the apartment, while
Metternich walked by his side, respectfully holding his hat in his
hand.
"Tell me what these conditions are!" repeated Napoleon.
"Sire, they are simply these," said Metternich, in a bland tone.
"During the late decade the affairs of Europe have been disturbed in
a somewhat violent manner. Austria only wishes to have the
equilibrium of Europe reestablished, and all the states occupy again
the same position which they held prior to these convulsions. If
your majesty consents to contribute your share to this restoration,
Austria in return offers to France her lasting alliance and, in case
the other powers should pursue a hostile course, her armed
assistance. Austria wishes to make no conquests, to acquire no
provinces, no titles--she is animated with the spirit of moderation.
She demands only order, justice, and equality for all, and,
moreover, only the restoration of such states as have been
recognized for centuries as members of the general confederacy of
European states, the reconstruction of those thrones which have
existed for ages, and whose rulers have a legitimate right to their
sovereignty. I believe your majesty cannot deny that the Bourbons
have a well-founded right to Spain, and that the Spaniards now, by
the blood shed in their heroic struggle, have established their
right to restore the throne to their legitimate rulers. You will
have to admit, further, that no Christian sovereign, how powerful
soever he may be, has a right to overthrow the Holy See of St.
Peter, and to keep the vicegerent of God away from the capital which
all Christendom has so long recognized as his own. You will have to
admit, too, that both Lombardy and Illyria have long been
possessions of Austria, and that Switzerland has been recognized as
a confederation of republics by all the powers of Europe. If your
majesty acknowledges all this, and consents to restore the state of
things in accordance with those well-established rights, it only
remains for us to find compensation for the three powers which have
already allied themselves against you. As for Prussia, I believe a
portion of Saxony would be the most suitable indemnity for her.
Russia, I suppose, would be content if, after the dissolution of the
duchy of Warsaw, Poland should once more fall to her share, and
England demands only the possession of a few fortified places and
safe harbors on the shores of Holland."
The emperor uttered a cry of anger, and, suddenly halting, cast
glances on Metternich which seemed to borrow their fire from the
lightning. "Are you through with your proposals, sir?" he asked, in
a threatening tone.
Metternich bowed. "Yes, sire."
"Well, then," cried the emperor, stepping up to the minister, "to
all this I respond only by the question: How much money has England
given you to play this part?"
At this question, uttered in a menacing voice, Metternich turned
pale, the smile passed from his lips, his brow darkened, and his
eyes, usually so mild and pleasant, kindled with anger, and allowed
the thoughts, generally concealed in the innermost recesses of the
diplomatist's heart, to burst forth for a moment, and betray hatred.
"Ah," cried Napoleon, in a triumphant tone, "I have at length torn
the mask from your smiling features, and I see that a serpent is
hidden under them as under roses. It would sting, but I know how to
be on my guard; I will never grant Austria the right to insult,
dictate to, and humiliate me. I will compel her, as I have done so
often, to prostrate herself in the dust before me, and ask mercy and
forbearance. Do you hear what I say? I will humiliate Austria,
trampling her in the dust." The emperor violently raised his
clinched fist, and striking it downward struck Metternich's hat,
which the minister still held in his hand, and caused it to fall to
the ground.
The emperor paused and looked at Metternich, as if to request him to
pick up the hat. But the latter did not make the slightest movement.
His thoughts and his hatred had already retired into his bosom; his
brow was serene again, and his accustomed smile returned. He looked
first at the hat, and then at the emperor, who followed his glances,
and met them sullenly and defiantly. This little incident, however,
seemed to have dispelled Napoleon's anger, or at least to have
appeased the first stormy waves of the sea. When he spoke again his
tone was milder, and his look less scorching, returning from time to
time, as it were involuntarily, to the hat lying on the floor a few
steps from him. He commenced pacing the apartment again with quick
steps. Metternich followed him, only with somewhat slackened pace,
and thus compelled the emperor to walk a little slower.
"Now," said Napoleon, loudly, "I know what you want! Not only
Illyria, but the half of Italy, the return of the pope to Rome,
Poland, and the abandonment of Spain, Holland, and Switzerland! This
is what you call the spirit of moderation! You are intent only on
profiting by every chance; you alternately transport your alliance
from one camp to the other, in order to be always a sharer in the
spoil, and you speak to me of your respect for the rights of
independent states! You would have Italy; Russia, Poland; Prussia,
Saxony; and England, Holland and Belgium: in fine, peace is only a
pretext; you are all intent on dismembering the French empire! And
Austria thinks she has only to declare herself, to crown such an
enterprise! You pretend here, with a stroke of the pen, to make the
ramparts of Dantzic, Custrin, Glogau, Magdeburg, Wesel, Mentz,
Antwerp, Alessandria, Mantua, in fine, all the strong places of
Europe, sink before you, of which I did not obtain possession but by
my victorious arms! And I, obedient to your policy, am to evacuate
Europe, of which I still hold the half; recall my legions across the
Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees; subscribe a treaty which would be
nothing but a vast capitulation; and place myself at the mercy of
those of whom I am at this moment the conqueror! It is when my
standards float at the mouths of the Vistula, and on the banks of
the Oder; when my army is at the gates of Berlin, and Breslau; when
I am at the head of three hundred thousand men, that Austria,
without drawing a sword, expects to make me subscribe such
conditions! This is an insult, and it is my father-in-law that has
matured such a project; it is he that sends you on such a mission!"
[Footnote: This whole speech contains only Napoleon's words.--Vide
Fain, "Manuscrit de 1813," vol. i.]
While thus speaking, the emperor was still walking, and Metternich
by his side. Whenever they passed the hat lying on the floor,
Napoleon cast a quick side-glance on Metternich, who appeared to
take no notice of the hat, and it seemed entirely accidental that he
slightly wheeled aside, and thus succeeded in passing without
touching it.
"You," cried Napoleon, in a thundering voice, "have taken upon
yourself the mission of insulting me, and you think I will quietly
submit?"
"Sire," said Metternich, with his imperturbable calmness, "I believe
you have already punished me for it!"
Now for the first time his eyes turned significantly toward his hat,
and then fixed themselves steadfastly on the emperor. They did not
dare to threaten, but they defied Napoleon. They said: "You have
insulted me by knocking my hat out of my hand. I will not pick it
up, but demand satisfaction."
Possibly Napoleon understood this language, for a smile, full of
sarcasm and contempt, played around his lips, and he slightly
shrugged his shoulders.
"I beg you to consider, besides," added Metternich, calmly, "that I
am here only because my sovereign has commissioned and ordered me to
repair to you, and that, as a faithful servant, I have repeated only
what the emperor commanded me."
"Ah," cried Napoleon, with a harsh laugh, "you wish to make me
believe that you are but the emperor's echo? Well, I will suppose it
to be true. Then go and tell your master that I henceforth decline
his mediation, and that nothing would exasperate me more than the
idea that Austria, in return for her crimes and her breach of faith,
should reap the best fruits and become the pacificator of Europe.
Ask the Emperor Francis in what position he intends to place me in
regard to my son? Tell him he is entirely mistaken if he believes a
disgraced throne can be a refuge in France for his daughter and
grandson. [Footnote: Napoleon's words.--Vide Fain, "Manuscrit de
1813," vol. i.] That is my reply to the Emperor Francis. Go!"
Metternich bowed; considering the emperor's words equivalent to his
dismissal, he turned and crossed the room. His way led him past his
hat; he took no notice of it, but quietly walked on toward the door.
"He does not wish to take his hat," thought Napoleon.
Metternich reached the door, turned again to the emperor, and made
him a last reverential bow.
"One word more, Count Metternich!" cried Napoleon. "Come, I have
still something to say to you."
Metternich blandly nodded assent and returned. Napoleon commenced
again pacing the room, with Metternich by his side. The emperor now
directed his steps in such a manner that he himself was near the
hat. "I wish to prove to you, Metternich," said Napoleon, "that I
have seen through you, and that the true reason of your coming is
well known to me. You did not for an instant believe that I could
accept these proposals, which would dishonor and annihilate me; you
know me too well for that; but they were only to be the pretext of
the real wish that brought you hither. To be able to ally yourself
in a seemingly loyal manner with my enemies, you want to get rid of
the alliance which is still connecting Austria with France. In
direct contradiction to all that Austria has hitherto said to me,
you wish to annul the treaty of Paris. Admit that this is the case."
The emperor, with his eyes fixed steadfastly upon Metternich,
crossed the apartment. Suddenly seeming to find an obstacle in his
way, he turned his eyes toward the floor. It was Metternich's hat,
which his foot had already touched. As if merely to remove the
obstruction, he stooped, took up the hat, and threw it with an
indifferent and careless motion on a chair near the door. He then
quietly passed on and fixed his eyes again upon Metternich.
[Footnote: Vide "Memoires de la Duchesse d'Abrantes," vol. xvi., p.
173. There is another version of this scene, according to which it
was not Metternich's, but the emperor's hat that fell to the floor.-
-Vide Hormayr, "Lebensbilder," vol. iii., p. 480.] "Well, reply to
me--deny it if you can!"
"Sire," said Metternich, in a bland, insinuating voice, "I had
already the honor of telling you that matters have come to that
point that we can no longer remain neutral, but that we can take up
arms for your majesty, only if you consent to grant us all that I
have laid before you, and--"
"No," interrupted Napoleon, proudly, "do not repeat the insult! The
interview is ended. I know what you desire, and I do not intend to
disappoint you! I will not be a dead weight upon my friends, nor
raise the slightest objection to the abandonment of the treaty that
allies me with Austria, if such be the wish of the Emperor Francis.
I shall tomorrow repeat this to you in writing and in due form. Now
we are through--farewell!" He turned his back on Count Metternich,
with a quick nod, and continued his way across the room.
Metternich cast a last smiling glance on him; went with rapid, soft
steps to the chair, took his hat which the emperor had picked up,
hastened across the room, and went out without a word or a bow.
When Napoleon heard him close the door, "He is gone," he murmured,
"the alliance is broken. I have now no ally but myself!" For a
moment he looked melancholy, and then starting glanced at the small
door leading into the cabinet of Baron Fain, his private secretary.
He remembered that his two dukes were there, and that they could not
only hear but see all. Composing his agitated face, he shouted in a
merry voice, "Caulaincourt and Maret, come in!"
The door opened immediately; the Dukes de Bassano and Vicenza
appeared on the threshold and reentered the room. "Well, have you
heard every thing?" asked Napoleon.
"Yes, sire."
"And Fain? has he taken notes?"
"Sire, he has written down every thing as far as it was possible,
considering the rapidity of the conversation." [Footnote: Fain,
"Memoires de 1813." Fain gives a full account of this interview, and
I have strictly followed his narrative.]
"Ah, I shall read it afterward," said the emperor; "it is always
good to know in what manner we shall be recognized by posterity.
Now, gentlemen, since you have heard all, you understand that war is
unavoidable, and that Austria will side with my enemies."
"Sire, we have heard it, and it has filled our souls with uneasiness
and anxiety," said Maret.
"Perhaps, nevertheless, a compromise may still be possible,"
exclaimed Caulaincourt. "The armistice has not yet expired, and, in
accordance with the orders of your majesty, I have already made the
necessary overtures for prolonging it to the 15th of August."
"It will be prolonged, you may depend upon it," said Napoleon, "for
the allies need time for completing their preparations. We shall
have an armistice to that time, but then war will break out anew,
and it will be terrible. I shall not indeed wage it as emperor, but
as General Bonaparte." [Footnote: Napoleon's words.]
"Oh, sire," sighed Maret, "the whole world is longing for peace, and
France, too, entertains no more ardent wish. I have received many
unmistakable intimations in regard to it. Paris is not only hoping
for peace, but expecting it confidently, after the two victories by
which your majesty has humiliated your enemies."
"Paris is very badly informed if she thinks peace to depend upon
me," replied Napoleon, indignantly. "You see how greedily Austria
augments the demands of my enemies, by placing herself at their
head. We were always obliged to conquer peace. Very well, we will
conquer it again. The armistice will be prolonged to the 15th of
August--time enough to complete, on our side, all necessary
preparations, and decree a new conscription. But then, after the
armistice, war--a decisive, bloody war--a war that will lead to an
honorable peace! Believe me, he who has always dictated peace cannot
submit to it with impunity. Courage, therefore! France wants peace,
and so do I, but my cannon shall dictate the terms, and my sword
write them!" [Footnote: Napoleon's words.--Vide "Memoires du Due de
Rovigo," vol. ii.]
DELIVERANCE OF GERMANY.